


searching for his prince

by amybri2002



Series: bad things happen bingo [7]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: (kinda), Angst, Crying, Fighting, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Taking the Blame, blood mention, roman doesnt actually make an appearance but they talk about him a lot so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:28:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24217423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amybri2002/pseuds/amybri2002
Summary: Roman isn't coming to save him, and Patton thinks he knows why.
Relationships: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders
Series: bad things happen bingo [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1714939
Comments: 6
Kudos: 44
Collections: Bad Things Happen Bingo





	searching for his prince

**Author's Note:**

> aaa ok i m a y have written a sequel bc i wanted both pat and ro to be happy and all i did was make pat sadder so. i'm sorry about that haha. uhhh janus is still called deceit in this bc continuity. i'm actually planning on making a third in this series as well so! fun! anyway hope y'all enjoy this~

Patton didn't quite know how he felt, following Deceit around the Imagination. On the one hand, Deceit seemed... kind. Willing to help Patton, at least. Which was more than what could be said for the others, who'd apparently forgotten all about him, left him to suffer all alone. But this was _Deceit_ he was talking about! How could he know that Deceit wasn't planning something else? That this was all out of the goodness of his heart and not just to take advantage of Patton?

No, that couldn't be it. Patton knew that Deceit couldn't be _all_ bad - if he was, then why would he help Patton? Why would he offer to take him back home?

Unless he _wasn't_ taking him back home, unless he was just _luring_ him into a trap, unless...

"What are you doing in the Imagination, anyway?" Deceit asked, glancing over at Patton.

Patton fixed his eyes on the ground ahead. "I came to check on Roman. But couldn't find him, obviously."

"You know it's dangerous in here," Deceit said. "Why would you put yourself in danger for _Roman_?"

Patton blinked. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Oh, Morality." Deceit looked at him with pity in his eyes. "You should be looking out for yourself, you know. Roman can handle himself well enough here, without any aid from anyone else. You shouldn't put yourself in danger for _his_ sake."

"But... he'd do the same for me," Patton argued.

Deceit raised an eyebrow. "Would he now?"

"Y-Yeah, he-" Patton thought back to how he felt hidden behind that rock, waiting for Roman to arrive, to save him, only for... "I, uh, well, if he _knew_ that I was in trouble, I'm sure that he'd come."

Deceit smiled, sadly. "Was he in trouble when you came to check on him?"

Patton closed his eyes, trying to think. "No. Maybe. I don't know." He took a deep breath. "We had an argument, I think, and he came here to take a breather, so a while after I came as well to... apologise, I guess, and..."

"You couldn't find him," Deceit finished, to which Patton nodded. "Perhaps if you'd just had an argument, he didn't _want_ to be found. Maybe _that's_ why he didn't come to save you."

Patton's eyes widened. Oh. Oh no. That... That would make sense. He couldn't quite remember what the argument had been about, but the memories were slowly starting to come back, and... well, Roman didn't reacted very well, at all. Roman was never good in arguments, he didn't like to lose, so of course he'd ran away, and... it was all Patton's fault. Roman could _actually_ be in danger right now, and it would be _Patton's fault_.

"I'm not saying he doesn't _care_ for you," Deceit continued, "but, chances are, he _may_ be angry at you."

"This is my fault," Patton muttered. "I went too far. He-"

"I _sincerely_ doubt that it's your fault, Morality," Deceit said. "In all honesty, I don't think you _can_ do any wrong."

Patton let go of Deceit's hand, moving to rub his own palm. "I can, though. I make so many mistakes, all the time, and now... what if Roman's _in danger_ right now?"

"He's not _in danger_ ," Deceit promised.

"How do you know?"

Deceit hesitated. "Well, uh, truthfully, I don't, but he's strong enough to not get himself into any major trouble. He controls this place, I don't think he's _capable_ of losing a fight here."

"You're lying," Patton mumbled, rubbing his arm. "Roman's lost fights before here. He's come back to the Mind Palace bruised and hurting and always comes to me for help. But he-"

A worried expression settled on Deceit's face. Patton couldn't tell if it was because he was scared for Roman, or scared for Patton. "Listen, Morality, Roman will only get hurt in here if he allows himself to, uh-"

Patton's eyes widened. After... After the things that Patton had said, Roman _would_ allow himself to get hurt. He always did. Whenever he came back all hurt, it was because he'd just had a rough time with the others, maybe an argument with Virgil, or maybe something bad had happened to Thomas' ego. And- And maybe he wasn't purposely allowing himself to lose, maybe he just wasn't in the right mind frame, but... well, he wasn't in the right mind frame now, either. He'd left the Mind Palace crying, screaming and shouting, and Patton had thought that maybe he just wanted attention, but-

He stopped walking. "I have to go find him," Patton whispered, stepping away from Deceit and sprinting back in the opposite direction, eyes darting around wildly in search of his prince.

"Morality!" Deceit called, but it was too late. Patton had made up his mind. He was going.

He ran and ran and ran until he couldn't breathe anymore and needed to rest. He collapsed onto the ground, curling up into a ball and quietly crying, which didn't particularly help with his lack of breath. He could hear roars in the distance, fighting, stomping, the ground almost shaking below him, and things were not going good. He was right back to where he started, afraid for his own life, alone with no prince coming to rescue him.

And the footsteps, the shouting, the fighting was getting closer. He hugged himself tighter, sheltering his head with his arms, his body shaking and brain quietly praying for everything to stop.

"Patton?"

Patton opened one eye, peeking out at the scene in front of him. Remus was bent over him, looking at him with confusion.

"Remus?" Patton whispered. He took several deep breaths, trying to compose himself, before sitting up and wiping the tears out of his eyes. "What are you-"

A dragon swooped overhead and Patton sucked his head again, as Remus glanced up and grinned. "Be right back, Old Blood 'n' Guts."

Patton closed his eyes, not wanting to witness whatever Remus was getting himself into. A moment later, Remus returned, blood dripping down his mace and his leg. He squatted down next to Patton.

"Why aren't you with Deceit?" he asked, tilting his head. Patton noticed there was blood stuck in his hair, as well, and all over his cheeks, and Patton tried his best not to think about where that could have come from.

"I have to save Roman," he said. "Deceit wouldn't let me."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "What, is Roman in trouble?"

"Yes," Patton said, before frowning. "Maybe. I don't know. But Deceit said-"

Remus pulled Patton up off the ground. "C'mon, if he's in danger then we haven't a moment to lose!"

He began to skip away, and Patton jogged over to join him. "Why would you care about Roman?" he asked, recalling how many times Remus had straight up attempted to murder Roman.

"He's my brother," Remus said.

Patton frowned. "You hate him, though?"

"I don't _hate_ him."

"You're always trying to murder him."

"Yeah, he's annoying sometimes," Remus said. "And only _I'm_ allowed to murder him. I don't want someone else to get 'round to it before I do."

That concerned Patton, to say the least.

"Also, I've ran out of dragons to kill here, so..."

Patton glanced down to the floor. "You... don't think Roman might actually die, do you?"

"Nah," Remus said. "I don't think he can die. Unless Thomas dies, I guess. Oh, what do you think will happen to us when Thomas dies?"

"I don't want to think about that."

"I do, though!"

"Think about it in your own head, and I will... not."

Remus pouted. "You're no fun."

The two walked across the fields of the Imagination, eventually coming across a tall tower. It... looked to be a similar style to the buildings in Roman's realm in the Imagination, but they couldn't have been there - Patton suspected he was closer to the Dark Imagination, and he didn't recognise this specific tower.

Remus hummed. "Big tower. No entrance. Yeah, this seems like the kind of place a kidnapped person would be held."

"Kidnapped?" Patton repeated. "Who said anything about kidnapping?"

Remus shrugged. "You're the one who said Roman might be in trouble."

"I didn't say he'd been _kidnapped_."

"Held hostage, then," Remus tried.

Patton fiddled with his fingers. "How do we get up there if there's no entrance?"

Before Remus could reply, someone landed in front of them, a smirk on her face. Red, scaly skin, a pair of thin, long wings spread out behind her, talons for hands. Oh. Perfect.

Remus got into a battle stance, swinging his mace around his shoulder. "What have you done with Roman?"

The Dragon Witch tilted her head. "Roman?"

"We know you have him," Remus continued. " _Where is he?_ "

Patton was shaking. Again. He'd never personally met the Dragon Witch, but Roman had told him all about her, about his many battles with her, about all the times he'd _lost_ to her. She seemed to be about the only person in the Imagination he ever lost to.

"Oh, _Roman_ ," the Dragon Witch mused. "I saw him a few days ago. Seemed pretty upset."

" _What did you do with him?_ "

"He's just staying with me for now, until he feels better. Don't worry, I'm taking _good_ care of him."

She'd taken him. Roman could be hurt, and it was _Patton's fault_. All because he'd...

He shouldn't have shouted at Roman. It was a bad thing, for him to have done. He knew that Roman got insecure, and that he took things too seriously sometimes, and... he knew that he looked up to Patton, that he thought Patton cared about him. And of course Patton cared about him, he loved Roman, he loved all of them, but... maybe he'd been a little harsh on Roman. Maybe he'd taken things a little too far.

"It's my fault," Patton whispered. "It's my fault he's upset."

"Patton-"

Tears were forming in Patton's eyes. He just wanted to go home. He wanted to be back in the Mind Palace, huddled up with Roman on the sofa, holding him tight, with Logan reading a book to the side and Virgil sprawled over the stairs with his headphones on full blast. Things used to be like that - why weren't they now? Now Roman was upset, all because of _him_ , and... and he was _stuck_ in the Imagination with no way to help Roman.

He could try. He ran forwards, a determined expression forming across his face. But the Dragon Witch was having none of it. Her talons ripped through Patton's skin and he fell to the floor, clutching the wound forming on his leg, then his arm, then his cheek. She wasn't stopping. And Remus wasn't helping.

"Patton!" a voice shouted.

Patton took in a deep breath and stretched out his body, kicking the Dragon Witch off him and shuffling to the side, leaning against the tower. Remus had disappeared, replaced by... Deceit. Deceit was back. And he'd called him Patton - not Morality, _Patton_.

"Patton, are you-" He ducked below the Dragon Witch and slid up besides Patton. "Are you okay?"

"Deceit," was all that Patton could muster.

Deceit grabbed hold of Patton and clicked his fingers. For a moment, everything went dark, and a weird feeling settled in Patton's stomach, a sinking sensation that made him feel almost sick. And things stayed dark, but objects began to appear in Patton's vision, a lamp to his side slowly spreading light around the room. He was sat - no, laid on a bed, in Deceit's arms. He sank into Deceit's clutch, crying into his shoulders. Deceit stiffened up, seeming surprised, but soon rolled with it and awkwardly pat Patton on the back. Patton tightened his grip on the back of Deceit's cloak.

After a few minutes of crying, Patton drew back, wiping away his tears and sniffling. That hadn't been nice. The Dragon Witch just-

Oh. Oh no. Roman was still-

"Calm down," Deceit said, softly. "Roman's alright."

"He _isn't_. The Dragon Witch hurt him, and it's my fault, and-"

"It _isn't_ your fault," Deceit said, firmly. "If Roman _is_ hurt, you can't be held accountable for that."

"But I-"

"You made a mistake," Deceit said. "People do that all the time. If Roman is hurt, you can't take the blame, it's whoever hurt him that is at fault."

Patton glanced down. He leant back towards Deceit, allowing him to wrap an arm around his shoulders and hold him tight.

"Roman will be okay, Morality," he said, stroking his fingers through his hair. "You'll be okay."


End file.
